


The cards you're dealt

by Lusewing



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dadster, Humans are pretty nice, Lots of soul fun, Multi, Realistic human magic stuff, Seven years after the barrier fell, lots of science
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 20:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6675046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lusewing/pseuds/Lusewing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reading tarot cards had been May’s hobby long before the monsters returned, long before magic returned. Now, with the world ready to believe in so much more, will monsters help humans open the door their their own potential or will old fears lead to past mistakes.</p><p>The Fool, The wheel of fortune, The Ace of cups</p>
            </blockquote>





	The cards you're dealt

**Author's Note:**

> So I know I already have one story ongoing but this story will just not leave me alone. So well...here it is. It's going to be very slow to update. I really do want to work on my other story for the most part but since I need to get this onto paper simply to make enough room in my head I might as well post it.  
> It will be a fun little exploration into souls, magic and life on the surface all nicely wrapped up with experiments and friendship. What could go wrong?

Sans used his free hand to push open the door, slippers making very little sound on the tiles. Spotting the monster he was looking for he made his way over to a nearby desk. Looking over Sans watched the other currently engrossed in his work he felt a silent acknowledgement to his presence, though there was no movement or reaction to show it otherwise. The monster before him was tall, not quite the height of the King but pretty close. Thin, controlled, measured. His white lab coat fitted like a second skin across his angular shape, with sharp, clean lines. Even his movements were precise as his attention flitted between seven or so clipboards of information, each one held in a floating bony hand while his own attached appendages worked on another clipboard. He was the very epitome of ‘scientist’.

“hey pops” Sans walked by carrying more clipboards of information, his smile getting just slightly wider.

“Sans as I have told you before, and as I will likely have to tell you again, while we are working please refer to me as Doctor Gaster.” The doctor’s voice had a strange quality to it, it wasn’t an accent, it went deeper then that. It was magically enhanced and yet slightly disjointed. Out of place. It threw a lot of people when they heard him speak, so Gaster tried to avoid it unless he had to, particularly around humans. There were only a select few of the staff he would really talk to for any length of time anyway. It isolated him a lot, but Sans had a feeling that was deliberate.

“sure thing old man” the far shorter skeletal monster chuckled at the other’s sigh but Sans could see the smile that flicked across the chalk white face in front of him.  
“so I got the next batch for you to look at. mixed bag. i think you’ll like this one, a pyro.”

“Hmm?” 

“can’t make his own flame but kid’s definitely got some control. not sure if it’s over the flame or the air”

“Interesting.” A hand came forward and picked up the board Sans held out before bringing it up to the lead scientist.  
“Soul?”

“Red, high determination, good amount of bravery. kid could use some patience though.” Gaster gave an understanding hum before focusing on the data. 

Sans loved seeing his father like this. He was the most relaxed when he had work to focus on, a puzzle to solve, and human magic was proving to be the most puzzling puzzle that had ever been puzzed. The younger skeleton tried to burn the sight before him to his memory. He never wanted to forget again. It still ate at him that he had forgotten in the first place. Not all of it, no, Sans wasn’t lucky enough to forget everything he had lost when his father had been ripped out of time and space after falling into the Core, but enough that he could never remember anything solid. He could just feel the edges of the hole that had been clawed out of his soul. Jagged, raw. 

He had spent ages trying to work it out, trying to piece everything together. Sans knew it had something to do with the lab and the Core. It felt empty. A lot of the staff seemed to feel the same way to. Like there was suddenly far more space then their should have been for their team. Over time the drive had left them. No one seemed to know what to do or where to go next in breaking the Barrier and slowly monsters themselves started leaving until...the lab just went quiet.

Eventually Sans had stopped trying to find what had been taken, what was missing. It was easier not to care, not to poke at the wound. Hurt less. After moving to Snowdin he focused on looking after his brother, cracking jokes and just enjoying himself. Of course then there were the resets and time jumps to deal with. Frisk. The anomaly. Then everything just seemed to click into place. After what felt like a hundred lifetimes of reliving the same moments like some twisted merry go round, it just stopped. The barrier fell. They were free.

That first sunrise, it hadn't felt real, but seeing Papyrus’s face light up, heh, that was something Sans decided he wouldn't mind seeing again and again.

The humans up top, well to say they were shocked would be an understatement. Yup, looked like all out war was about to start again. Then the kid did it. Stepped right out into the heart of the conflict and...pushed the King into the dirt. Bang. Flat on his back. Sans would have been laughing till his bones dropped off if he hadn't been seething with rage at that moment but... Well the action had shocked the humans to.

Monsters might have magic but when it comes to raw strength, well even the kid had us beat. Soon as the humans realized how much of a pushover monsters really were, heh, things calmed down. Talking started. It wasn’t easy. Humans might have had the edge with the whole violence thing but magic really freaked them out. Then things started to change again, but this time, for the better.

Two years after the barrier fell, and with a very shaky relationship, most of the monsters still lived in and around Mt Ebott. In order to try and ease tensions the King had agreed to share the core’s power, which meant Sans was needed to lend a bone or two. Papyrus helped, in his own way, he might not be much for engineering and theoretical physics but he was strong and he helped keep the place organized. Plus he stopped Sans from slacking off too much. There were so many ‘what if’s’ on that day. What if he had never asked his brother to join him? What if the cables had been colored differently? What if Papyrus hadn't decided to move said cables around so they were now in matching pairs? 

Sans would have liked to have said the resulting explosion had not been pretty but...well it had kinda been like a really big firework display so it was in fact very pretty, and loud...and destructive. Took every single monster that new fire magic to keep the mountain from erupting that night. Sans was just glad he was able to grab his brother and take a shortcut out of the core before they ended up as part of the display. Thing is, when they got to the other side, it wasn’t just him and his brother that came out of the shortcut.

They had all ended up in a jumbled heap on the floor, like they had just been spat out. Sans had made a shortcut straight to his house in Snowdin, he hadn't had time to think, had just acted on impulse. So there he was, in his dusty old living room, with not only his brother but his father and all of his missing coworkers. The rush of memories had been dizzying. Sans had just found himself staring in wide socketed shock. Good ol’ Papyrus had been there to save the day again by pulling everyone into a big hug and shouting ‘daddy’ to the rooftops.  
Gaster had never looked so confused. “What did I miss?”

A lot. Everything. What had happened when Gaster and his assistants had fallen into the core, no one was really sure, but it had somehow cut them completely out of time so when they ‘popped back in’ it was like they had never left. They had taken a shortcut, but, through time. 

Took a while to get everything sorted out, but seeing families get back what they’d never known they’d lost, that was worth a hundred cores. Though it did help that monsterkind had just regained the person that had designed and built the original core so in a way they had gained far more than they had lost...even if they were on emergency power for almost two months after.

Once the core had been rebuilt (and no one fell in this time) dear daddy Gaster found himself at a loss. He had spent all his time in the Underground trying to work out a way to take down the barrier and now...well it was gone. Sans still remembered the passing comment he had made. He hadn't really meant anything when he had said. “Don’t worry dad, the way things are going there is bound to be another barrier up in a year.” Yup, just a dumb joke, a pretty insensitive one at that really, thankfully Gaster didn’t see it like that.

That had been the spark to get the Royal scientist back in his lab researching just how humans had managed to make the barrier in the first place. Humans and magic had never really seemed to mix. Sure there had been a few that had a little magical talent back before the war, but the barrier had been BIG magic. Not only that but it had been very new, very strange and very un-monster like magic. 

And whad'ya know, pops found something very interesting. 

Turns out humans NEED magic. Just a little here and there to stay healthy and happy, and this ain't the sort of shit you can just bottle. Now, seven years on, instead of posters filled with hate and fear there was posters with phrases like. ‘Hug a monster a day, keep the doctor away’ and ‘I got your back if you’ve got my soul’. Damn cheesy stuff but Sans would certainly take it over the alternative.

Of course having spent nearly 1000 years without magic had had its effects on the humans. They got sick more often, both physically and mentally, had to rely on a lot of fake stuff, so when that little discovery came to light things got a lot better for monster kind. Not perfect, and there were still plenty of sick fucks around, but certainly better. Thing is, humans are tough, adaptable. All that determination, well Sans should have expected something, after the time he had spent with Frisk, and boy did they not disappoint. A very few humans, scattered and from all walks of life, had somehow managed to develop their own magic.

Actually calling it magic was a bit much. It was nothing like monster magic, not really. It was more like… well that was the problem, they were still trying to work that bit out. It was certainly tied to their souls and seemed to come under three categories. Input, output and feedback. Inputters affected things around them in small ways, their soul flared and touched and affected, they were the most noticeable. Outputers were their opposite, they drew in from others, their soul acting like a sponge. It was hard to find outputters, mostly because they rarely showed any signs themselves. You had to instead observe those around them. Finally there were the Feeders, who were nowhere near as creepy as they sounded. Feeders were the whole package, input and output. They are able to create a loop of energy with other souls. Ever seen a general inspire his troops? Welp he just might be a feeder, bleeding his own bravery, determination or courage into those around him, and they inturn would ‘feedback’ their own soul energy. It was complex, weird, but also kinda cool. 

All three categories helped balance the human souls around them and make up for the lack of magic. It had been working out pretty well for them...but there was only so much substitute magic could do. Monster magic was the fire they needed to keep them alive and fight off the darkness, up until now humans had pretty much been huddled together just sharing body heat.

That didn’t make Human magic any less amazing though. Or confusing. Sans looked over a few more of the notepads.

“Anything else?” Gaster flicked an eye over towards his lotaring son. Not that he really minded but he could at least be doing something productive with his time.

“Err let’s see.” Sans sorted the files into three piles.  
“we got four feeders, two outputters and seven inputters including that pyro but err…” Sans pulled out one of the files from the tall ‘In’ pile.

“Hmm?”

“Well one of the inputters is a bleeder.”

“Green?” The last three bleeders had all been green.

“yup. in more ways than one.”

“Hopefully this one will be able to lend more insight into the phenomenon.” Gaster called another hand into being and directed it to collect the file Sans was looking over. He seemed almost reluctant to hand it over for a moment before passing it over. Gaster gave him another glance as the file was brought in front of him. 

“Now what secrets do you hold Miss Mavis Holt.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, there is the hook, let's see if there is any interest. I’m going to be delving into mostly real world ‘magic’. Aura’s, Tarot, healing hands, crystals, things like that. Giving them a whole new twist. Going to be pulling a good bit from my own experiences to so let's see where that leads me. Love it, Hate it, let me know. ^.^


End file.
